An Extinguished Light
by MyDearestCheryl
Summary: The town of Riverdale mourns the death of one of their brightest students and sharpest detectives, Betty Cooper, after she passes away from a seizure. Ruled as just a freak accident, most people just carry on with their lives. But everyone has secrets... (based off of the 3x01 ending)


"Yes, I'm on my way." Jughead Jones put down his phone with shaking hands. He ran to grab his beloved leather jacket and flew out the door. He didn't even bother with a helmet for his motorcycle, he simply sped out of the trailer park. The wind blew hard and cold on his face as he made his way to the Northside, where the hospital was. The motorcycle skidded to a stop on the smooth pavement, under a flickering fluorescent lamppost. He pushed the door open forcefully. His shoes squeaked as he stopped short. Alice came trudging towards him, her face white as a sheet and her eyes red and swollen. "Mrs. Cooper, where is she?" Jughead asked.

"I-I don't know," she sobbed.

Jughead hugged the distressed mother tightly. "Do you know what happened?"

"I don't know, I was inside, and Polly was putting the babies to sleep, and I just heard this thud from outside, and Betty was shaking, and..." Alice cried even harder.

"What?" Jughead's voice was wary and concerned.

"She was having a seizure." Alice slouched in a nearby chair in the lobby.

"How? How did this happen?"

"Jughead, there's something that she didn't tell you. Dr. Glass isn't real. She made up a therapist and was taking Adderall without prescription. She might have..." Alice choked up. She tried to say "overdosed", but she couldn't bring herself to.

Jughead stepped back in shock. He was fighting tears, until he couldn't any longer. "I have to see her," he looked around. "Come on." He grabbed Alice by the hand and wandered around the halls until he found a room in the ICU labeled "E. Cooper". They barged in, and there was Betty, still and peacefully laying on the hospital bed. Her eyes were shut and there were tubes in her arms, on her hands, pretty much everywhere. A monitor beeped rhythmically with her heart. It was a lot slower than normal.

Jughead slept in a chair against the wall of the little room, and Alice was at home, because Jughead had practically ordered her to get some rest. It was around 4 in the morning, and Jughead was sleeping soundly, when he woke up to a loud noise. He automatically recognized it- the monotone, singular beep of the heart monitor.

"Help!" he screamed. "Somebody help!"

A doctor came running down the hallway, a caravan of nurses following. The door shut before Jughead could go back in. He pressed his face to the small glass window in the door. The room was in panic for a few minutes, until the same doctor wearily opened the door and sighed. "Is she-" Jughead's voice caught and the last word sounded like a whimper. The doctor just nodded and walked away. Jughead's heart sank, and this time, he didn't try to fight the tears. They came running down his face as he walked into the room, where Betty was disconnected from all the machines and tubes. She looked tranquil and at rest. Jughead sank into the bed, cradling the lifeless girl in his arms. 20 minutes later, Alice was standing in the doorway. She was beside herself, gasping for air each time a sob racked her body. Jughead stood outside the door. He couldn't bear to see Betty any longer. He reached for his phone and called FP. "Dad." more tears ran down his face.

"Son, what is it?"

"It's Betty."

"What about Betty? Is she okay?"

"No, Dad. She's not. Betty..." Jughead sobbed.

"Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital. So is her mom. Just, please come."

FP came running down the hallway. Jughead was sitting on the ground against the wall, his face buried in his hands. "Jug," FP coaxed.

"She's gone. She's gone. If only I knew, I could've helped her. I could've saved her."

"What are you talking about?"

"She died from a seizure. I thought she was getting better, but she wasn't. She was taking too much Adderall, and she made up a therapist as an excuse to get more, and I should have talked to her, I should have stopped and talked to her. And now she's gone,"

"Listen, boy. It is not your fault. We didn't-" FP just stopped talking, since he couldn't come up with anything that made sense at this early. "Where's Alice?"

At 6 in the morning, pretty much everyone was at the Coopers' house. Veronica was sprawled on the sofa face-down, as Cheryl and Toni tried to comfort her. It was a bit pointless, because they were just as grief-stricken. Kevin sat on the stairs, lost in thought. Fred Andrews sat at the kitchen table with Alice, Tom, and FP. Sweet Pea was just awkwardly standing in the foyer with his arms wrapped around Josie. Jughead sat in her bedroom, looking at all of her pictures. He opened a drawer and gasped. Inside was about 15 bottles of Adderall, and nothing else. He slowly ambled downstairs and stood in front of the table. "There's something you should see," he said. FP came up the stairs and looked at the drawer.

"Oh my god," he shuddered.

The funeral was two days after Betty's death. Pretty much the entire town was there. Alice hadn't looked worse since after Hal. It was awful. Jughead hadn't slept in a few days, and his usual appetite was suddenly gone. "Jug, are you sure you're all right? You haven't eaten in, like, a day." Toni asked.

"Who said I was all right?" Jughead sighed, completely emotionless.

Cheryl looked at Toni. "This is bad," she mouthed.

Toni nodded.

The service was the same place Midge's funeral was, a clearing near Sweetwater River. There were a lot of people there. Everyone looked drained. Betty was the positive ray of sunshine everywhere. And that ray of sunshine was gone. Veronica spoke first.

"Betty Cooper was my best friend. She was always kind, always accepting, and always figuring out the best way to handle things. I just wish she could come up with a good way to handle this. Betty was the most amazing person I had ever met, not because of her talent for writing, or her beauty that showed whenever she smiled. It was her spirit that could light up a room, her heart that never stopped loving. She was stronger than anyone I've ever known. She held up through so much, and I just hope she's resting well now." Veronica stepped back, tears falling down her face, winding like the nearby river. She walked by the casket and placed her hand on it.

Cheryl was next to speak. "As a cousin and friend of Betty's, all I can say is, I miss her already. As Veronica said, she was so kind and strong that you'd never guess that she'd been through so much. Uh.." she stuttered and began to cry. Toni tiptoed up next to her, grabbed her arm softly, and led her back to her seat.

Alice miserably trudged up to the casket. "As a mother, I certainly thought that I would never live to see this day. Betty was hurt, and troubled, and she decided to end that. And I couldn't do anything about it. None of us could. And she's gone. She's gone..." This is the second speech interrupted by tears, and it was only the third one. Alice sat down, not even looking at the casket, just sort of staring at the ground. FP grabbed her hands. "Listen, this was not a suicide. She didn't know what she was doing. She didn't die on purpose."

"But nonetheless, I let it happen. I lost 2 of them, FP. I lost Charles, and I lost Betty, and I almost lost Polly, I almost lost you..." she started crying again.

The last speech of the day was delivered by Jughead. He stepped up to the casket, and before speaking, leaned over and kissed Betty's forehead. "We're gathered to remember the life of the most amazing person on this small, blue earth. Betty was sweet, and smart, and tough. She saved me so many times, and every time she spoke, others listened. Not everyone has the power to do that. And when she loved, she loved fiercely. She protected me because she loved me, and she loved everyone. And now, it's our turn to love her."

He stepped away and instead of sitting down, made a beeline for the river. FP chased after him, Toni and Cheryl in hot pursuit. The three stopped at the treeline and watched Jughead throw rocks into the river. He kept tossing in stones angrily until his arms got tired. Then he plopped down on the banks and cried. FP crept behind him and sat down. He wrapped an arm around his son, while the girls watched, still partially concealed by the trees. "Come on, T. Let's go back." Cheryl grabbed Toni's hand and walked back uphill. The crowd of mourners was shuffling about now, people coming up to Alice and hugging her, and dropping flowers and wreaths next to the casket. Veronica was standing above it, her head hung low and her normal glow suddenly extinguished. Everyone there was completely drained. Even Sweet Pea shed a few tears. Cheryl stood next to Veronica. "I'm so, so sorry, V."

"It's Veronica to you." she sneered.

"Veronica," Cheryl corrected herself. "You guys were practically sisters."

Veronica nodded. She looked off in the distance, lost in thought. "Oh my God," she sighed. "Does Archie know?"

"I don't think so."

"I have to go visit him," Veronica ran off.

So Veronica sat waiting for Archie. When he finally sat down, he realized something was wrong. "Ronnie, is everything okay?"

"No, Arch. It's not. Betty..."

"What happened?" Archie sat up, his back straight as a line.

"She died," Veronica started crying for the tenth time that day.

"What?" Archie stood up now, his hands shaking.

"I don't know how it happened, she had a seizure, and now she's gone," Veronica was pacing back and forth.

"I don't believe this, Ronnie."

"Neither do I," Veronica sobbed. "I came straight from her funeral."

"Funeral?" Archie's voice cracked. "How long-"

"Two days. Just two days." Veronica sighed heavily.

"How's, uh, how's Jughead taking it?"

"Not very well. He's trying to be tough."

"I wish I could be there. For him, and for you." Archie shook his head.

"Arch, we're gonna get you out of here somehow. Soon. Don't worry."

A week later, Jughead summoned the courage to visit Betty's grave. The dirt around it was still fresh, and there were tons of flowers everywhere. People had left notes on her locker, in the newspaper room, even in the quad. Jughead got even more strange looks than usual, and lots of people were coming up to him, trying to comfort him. Even Reggie made an attempt. "Dude, I'm sorry about Betty," he said on the way to 5th period. He clapped Jughead on the back.

"Don't touch me!" Jughead shouted, a little too loudly. Everyone backed off. That day there was a huge assembly, like the one honoring Jason last year. Veronica was a little bit better, but not much. She was still distraught, but spoke at the assembly anyways. "A few days ago, we lost one of the brightest students at this school. Betty Cooper passed away shortly after suffering from a seizure on Tuesday night."

The entire gymnasium fell silent. People whispered and gasped. A flash of black and red ran across the sidelines and out the door. Jughead ran down the empty halls to Betty's locker. He just placed his forehead gently on the door. He threw his beloved hat on the ground and for the first time in a while, sobbed for 20 minutes straight. "Jug!" Fangs called. He turned the corner, and there was the broken boy, sitting on the floor, tears still steadily streaming from his eyes, his entire face a shade of red.

"Oh my god," Fangs sat down next to him. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah." Jughead sighed.

"She was so brave," he clasped his hands together.

"What did I do wrong?" Jughead shook his head and put his hat back on.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You loved her more than anything."

"Well, clearly I did something wrong, because she's gone now."

"Jughead, you couldn't control that. It was just a freak accident. Seizures happen all the time."

"No, no, no, it's not like that. It wasn't just out of the blue." Jughead sniffled.

"What?"

"She overdosed. She overdosed on Adderall, and that's what caused it. And I didn't know."

Fangs gasped. He stood up and started pacing. "Are you kidding?"

"Yes, this is a whole big joke. Of course I'm not kidding, you idiot!"

"Rhetorical question," Fangs muttered under his breath.

"It is partly on me though," Jughead wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "I'm supposed to be looking out for her, but I wasn't. And then she died." he inhaled deeply, trying to compose himself. Just then, Cheryl and Toni came running up to him. "There you are!" Cheryl exclaimed.

"Jug, we're worried about you." Toni said as Cheryl hugged her close.

"Maybe you should go home," Fangs suggested.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Cheryl chimed.

Jughead drove home early that day. He came into the small trailer, but stopped short when he saw Alice and FP on the sofa together. Alice was in tears and FP was desperately trying to console her. "Dad?" Jughead stepped quietly into the room.

"Jug!" FP jumped, obviously startled. "Why aren't you in school?"

"My friends thought I should come home early, get some rest."

"Okay, that's fine. Do you want something to eat?"

"No, I'm not hungry." Jughead walked away.

FP looked puzzled. "Okay, why don't you, uh, go lie down?"

Jughead just nodded and laid down on the bed.

It had now been a week since that tragic night, and the buzz had sort of calmed down. The Serpents held a separate ceremony for her. It was tradition that when a fellow member died, they would hang their jacket in the Whyte Wyrm and have the leader do the honors. It was especially hard for Jughead to do, because hanging that jacket up meant that it was time to let go. But maybe it was time.


End file.
